Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-03-18
WOMAN'S REALM.
By hHs. L. H. BLAxk. ASSOCIATE Ep,ron
Mrs Rodgers Described ~ Miss VIII.
lard. "

AAAo A4lAsoesn Master Work
man of District Nc. "a, Chicago. Hay
ing asked and received permission to
call on her, Miss Willard went: size
says: Il was welcomed to . small but
comfortable modern house by a woman
who came tc the door with her sleeves
rolled up and q babe in her arms. She
was the presiding officer I'VE all the
knights of Labor of Chicago and the
suburbs, except the stock yards. Her
orders come directly from Bro. Pow
derby Gas she calls HIM, ana are by Her
promulgated to the local societies, in
GLIDING fifty Thousand working men
and women. She presides once in two
weeks over a meeting of three hundred,
Who represent the mass: and when 4
asked her if she studied Cushing's
Manual, she replied: Indeed | do: for
these men'ars very wide awake, and ON
the watch to see if I make Mistakes
Mrs. Rogers is just forty years old;
height, medium; figure neither stout
nor fragile; complexion fair, clear and
healthful; eyes, an honest gray; mouth,
sweet and smiling nose, a handsome,
masterful Roman; head, square and
full; profile, strong and bsnignant. II
was glad to note her fair, unpurctured |
cara proof of wholesome instincts. |
She is = native of Woodford county. !
Galway, Ireland, and came with her
fathers family to Now York whom on
ly eve years old. They settled in
London, Ontario, Canada, and she was
educated IN Catholic schools until about
fourteen yesrs old, when she learned
the trade of,tailcress, sEd at seventeen
was married to George Rodgers, Il
Welshman and iron molder, whom she
had known from childhood. They
moved to Toronto, thence to Detroit
and thence to Chicago, where they
lived eleven years. Mrs. Rodgers has
been the motasS of twelve children,
ten of whom are living. The youngest
WIS but twelve days old when her
mother started for the Richmond con
vsntion, where the baby was made
Delegate No. 800" and presented by
the Knights with /. silver cup and
spoon, and the mother with q hand
some knights of Labor" gold watch.
MY husbxnd always believed that
women should do anything they liked
that was good and which they could DO
we'll" said Mrs. Rodgers, proudly, "but
for him l never could have got on 30
we'll as Master Workman. l was the
first woman in Chicago to join the
knights. They offered me the chance
and ] said to myself, There must be
the FIRST one, and &c went forward"
How do you speak to them" /
asked.
"Oh, just as l do here to my children
at home" she answered, simply. II
have no time to get anything ready to
say, for do all my own work, and al
ways have, but l Just talk as well as
can at the time"
And that is well enough, for Mrs.
Rodgers is ready of utterance, with q
round, clear voice, gentle and womanly,
and that concise, pointed method OF
expression which shows her mental
faculties to be thoroughly well in hand.
"Our leaders are all in favor Of tenn
peranse and the woman's ballot. and
every other thing that is good" she
said. land will bring tho rank and file
up to these things as soon as they can"
"Some people object to you because
of your Secrets" 1 said.
"Oh. VT are not a regular secret soci-
ety." she answered. I'VE have no such
ways as the Masons; no oaths in such .
sense as they have. We are like the
Good Templars, with a grip that We
may know each other and q pass word
that strangers may not get in, and
that's about all"
Mrs. Rodgers got her training as
chief officer of a local board OF the
Knights of Labor, which office she
held four years, and by the death Of the
Master Workman, became chief of this
great city.
"We take no saloon keepers" she
said, mot even a saloon keepers wife.
We will have nothing to do with men
who have capital invested in a business
which is the greatest curse the poor
have ever known; but wage workers
connected with the liquor business are
not forbidden to join us."
told her l hoped the pledge of total
abstinence might be made \ test of
membership, and she heartily acqui-
esced in the plan. l spoke Of the White
Cross movement and my desire to en-
list the knights in it's favor, leaving
With her some of the literature and Pc
titions for the protection of women
and the prohibition of the liquor traffic.
She seemed to me . sincere Christian,
and warmly seconded my statement
that, "Mr. Powderly must have the help